So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

October 29th


- Christian Feast Day:
- Coronation Day (Cambodia)
- Republic Day or Cumhuriyet Bayram? (Turkey)

October 29th


- 2008 - Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, creating the world's largest airline and reducing the number of US legacy carriers to 5.
- 2005 - 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings kill more than 60.
- 2004 - The Arabic news network Al Jazeera broadcasts an excerpt from a video of Osama bin Laden in which the terrorist leader first admits direct responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks and references the 2004 U.S. presidential election.
- 2004 - In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.
- 2002 - Ho Chi Minh City ITC Inferno, a fire destroys a luxurious department store where 1500 people shopping. Over 60 people died and over 100 are missing. It is the deadliest disaster in Vietnam during peacetime.
- 1999 - A large cyclone devastates Orissa, India.
- 1998 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities.
- 1998 - Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-95 with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space.
- 1998 - ATSC HDTV broadcasting in the United States is inaugurated with the launch of STS-95 space shuttle mission.
- 1998 - While en route from Adana to Ankara, a Turkish Airlines flight with a crew of 6 and 33 passengers is hijacked by a Kurdish militant who orders the pilot to fly to Switzerland. The plane instead lands in Ankara after the pilot tricked the hijacker into thinking that he is landing in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to refuel.
- 1998 - Hurricane Mitch, the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, makes landfall in Honduras.
- 1998 - The Gothenburg nightclub fire in Sweden claims 63 lives and injures 200.
- 1994 - Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran is later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton).
- 1991 - The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid.
- 1986 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opens the last stretch of the M25 motorway.
- 1985 - Major General Samuel K. Doe is announced the winner of the first multi-party election in Liberia.
- 1983 - Over 500,000 people demonstrate against cruise missiles in The Hague, Netherlands.
- 1980 - Demonstration flight of a secretly modified C-130 for an Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt ends in crash landing at Eglin Air Force Base's Duke Field, Florida leading to cancellation of Operation Credible Sport.
- 1980 - Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's murderer, leaves for New York from his home in Hawaii.
- 1969 - The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.
- 1967 - London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.
- 1967 - Montreal's World Fair, Expo 67, closes with over 50 million visitors.
- 1966 - National Organization For Women is founded.
- 1964 - Tanganyika and Zanzibar unite to form the Republic of Tanzania.
- 1964 - A collection of irreplaceable gems, including the 565 carat (113 g) Star of India, is stolen by a group of thieves (among them is "Murph the surf") from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
- 1961 - Syria exits from the United Arab Republic.
- 1960 - In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (who later takes the name Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight.
- 1957 - Israel's prime minister David Ben Gurion and five of his ministers are injured when a hand grenade is tossed into Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
- 1956 - Suez Crisis begins: Israeli forces invade the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.
- 1956 - Tangier Protocol is signed: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.
- 1955 - The Soviet battleship Novorossiisk strikes a World War II mine in the harbor at Sevastopol.
- 1953 - BCPA Flight 304 DC-6 crashes near San Francisco, California. Pianist William Kapell is among the 19 killed.
- 1948 - Safsaf massacre
- 1945 - Getulio Vargas, president of Brazil, resigns.
- 1944 - The city of Breda in the Netherlands is liberated by 1st Polish Armoured Division.
- 1942 - Holocaust: In the United Kingdom, leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register outrage over Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews.
- 1941 - Holocaust: In the Kaunas Ghetto over 10,000 Jews are shot by German occupiers at the Ninth Fort, a massacre known as the "Great Action".
- 1929 - The New York Stock Exchange crashes in what will be called the Crash of '29 or "Black Tuesday", ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and beginning the Great Depression.
- 1923 - Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1922 - The King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, appoints Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister.
- 1921 - The Link River Dam, a part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, is completed.
- 1921 - Second trial of Sacco and Vanzetti in USA.
- 1921 - The Harvard University football team loses to Centre College, ending a 25 game winning streak. This is considered one of the biggest upsets in college football.
- 1918 - The German High Seas Fleet is incapacitated when sailors mutiny on the night of the 29th-30th, an action which would trigger the German revolution.
- 1901 - In Amherst, Massachusetts nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.
- 1901 - Capital punishment: Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of US President William McKinley, is executed by electrocution.
- 1886 - The first ticker-tape parade takes place in New York City when office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated.
- 1863 - Eighteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Wauhatchie – Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant repel a Confederate attack led by General James Longstreet. Union forces thus open a supply line into Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- 1859 - Spain declares war on Morocco.
- 1792 - Mount Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River.
- 1787 - Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague.
- 1675 - Leibniz makes the first use of the long s (?) as a symbol of the integral in calculus.
- 1665 - Battle of Ambuila, where Portuguese forces defeated the forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitated king Antonio I of Kongo, also called Nvita a Nkanga.
- 1658 - Action of 29 October 1658 (Naval battle)
- 1618 - English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.
- 1467 - Battle of Brustem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege
- 1422 - Charles VII of France becomes king in succession to his father Charles VI of France
- 1390 - First trial for witchcraft in Paris leading to the death of three people.
- 1268 - Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed along with his companion Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily, a political rival and ally to the hostile Roman Catholic church.
- 969 - Byzantine troops occupy Antioch Syria
- 539 - 539 BC – Cyrus the Great entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus and finish the Babylonian captivity and gave the Jews permission to return to Yehud province and to rebuild the Temple; but most Jews chose to remain in Babylon.
- 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople unifying the two branches of the House of Theodosius

October 29th


- 1992 - India Eisley, American actress
- 1988 - Andy King, Welsh footballer
- 1987 - Makoto Ogawa, Japanese singer
- 1986 - Sarita Pérez de Tagle, Filipina actress and model
- 1985 - Severino Jefferson, Brazilian footballer
- 1984 - Eric Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 - Richard Brancatisano, Australian actor
- 1983 - Maurice Clarett, American football player
- 1983 - Dana Eveland, American baseball player
- 1983 - Jason Tahincioglu, Turkish racing driver
- 1982 - Ariel Lin, Taiwanese actress and singer
- 1982 - Chelan Simmons, Canadian actress
- 1981 - Amanda Beard, American swimmer
- 1981 - Jonathan Brown, Australian Australian rules footballer
- 1981 - Reema Sen, Indian actress
- 1980 - Ben Foster, American actor
- 1980 - Kaine Robertson, New Zealand-born Italian rugby player
- 1980 - B.J. Sams, American football player
- 1979 - Ignasi Giménez Renom, Catalan politician
- 1978 - Travis Henry, American football player
- 1977 - Brendan Fehr, Canadian actor
- 1976 - Stephen Craigan, Northern Irish footballer
- 1976 - Milena Govich, American actress
- 1976 - Giorgos Kalaitzis, Greek basketball player
- 1975 - Kelly Lin, Chinese actress
- 1974 - Michael Vaughan, English cricketer
- 1973 - Robert Pirès, French footballer
- 1973 - Éric Messier, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 - Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur
- 1972 - Gabrielle Union, American actress
- 1972 - Tracee Ellis Ross, American actress
- 1971 - Matthew Hayden, Australian cricketer
- 1971 - Winona Ryder, American actress
- 1971 - Daniel J. Bernstein, American professor
- 1970 - Edwin van der Sar, Dutch footballer
- 1970 - Phillip Cocu, Dutch footballer
- 1969 - Giorgos Donis, Greek footballer
- 1969 - Eleni Menegaki, Greek TV presenter
- 1969 - SA Martinez, American singer (311)
- 1968 - Johann Olav Koss, Norwegian speed skater
- 1968 - Tsunku, Japanese music producer
- 1967 - Joely Fisher, American actress
- 1967 - Rufus Sewell, English actor
- 1964 - Yasmin Le Bon, British model
- 1964 - Eddie McGuire, Australian television presenter
- 1962 - Einar Örn Benediktsson, Icelandic musician (The Sugarcubes)
- 1961 - Randy Jackson, American musician
- 1961 - Joel Otto, American ice hockey player turned coach
- 1960 - Finola Hughes, British actress
- 1959 - Mike Gartner, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1958 - David Remnick, American writer and editor of The New Yorker
- 1958 - Blažej Baláž, Slovak painter
- 1957 - Dan Castellaneta, American voice actor
- 1956 - Wilfredo Gómez, Puerto Rican boxer
- 1955 - Kevin DuBrow, American singer (Quiet Riot) (d. 2007)
- 1955 - Roger O'Donnell, English musician (The Cure)
- 1955 - Boy Abunda, Filipino journalist and television personality
- 1953 - Denis Potvin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1951 - Dirk Kempthorne, American politician, 49th United States Secretary of the Interior and 30th Governor of Idaho
- 1950 - Bronwen Mantel, Canadian actress and voice actor
- 1950 - Abdullah Gul, Turkish President
- 1949 - James Williamson, American guitarist
- 1949 - Paul Orndorff, American professional wrestler
- 1949 - Kieron Baker, English footballer
- 1948 - Kate Jackson, American actress
- 1948 - Frans de Waal, Dutch primatologist
- 1947 - Richard Dreyfuss, American actor
- 1947 - Helen Coonan, Australian politician
- 1946 - Peter Green, English guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1946 - Lynn Carey, American actress and singer (Mama Lion)
- 1944 - Denny Laine, English musician (Moody Blues, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Wings)
- 1944 - Otto Wiesheu, German minister
- 1944 - Claude Brochu, Canadian businessman and sports executive (Montreal Expos)
- 1943 - Don Simpson, American film producer (d. 1996)
- 1942 - Bob Ross, American artist and television host (d. 1995)
- 1942 - Melora Harte, American voice actor
- 1940 - Frida Boccara, French singer (d. 1996)
- 1940 - Connie Mack, U.S. Senator from Florida
- 1940 - José Ulises Macías Salcedo, Catholic bishop
- 1938 - Ralph Bakshi, American cartoonist
- 1938 - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia
- 1936 - Akiko Kojima, Japanese model
- 1935 - Takahata Isao, Japanese animated film director
- 1931 - Franco Interlenghi, Italian actor
- 1930 - Puck Brouwer, Dutch athlete (d. 2006)
- 1930 - Niki de Saint Phalle, French sculptor (d. 2002)
- 1930 - Natalie Sleeth, American composer (d. 1992)
- 1930 - Omara Portuondo, Cuban singer
- 1929 - Yevgeny Primakov, Russian politician
- 1926 - Jon Vickers, Canadian tenor
- 1925 - Dominick Dunne, American author (d. 2009)
- 1925 - Robert Hardy, English actor
- 1923 - Carl Djerassi, Austrian chemist
- 1923 - Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs, Dutch athlete
- 1922 - Neal Hefti, American jazz musician (d. 2008)
- 1921 - Bill Mauldin, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
- 1920 - Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-born immunologist, Nobel laureate
- 1920 - Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I Catholicos, Indian Orthodox Church
- 1918 - Bernard Gordon, American writer and producer (d. 2007)
- 1917 - Eddie Constantine, American actor/singer (d. 1993)
- 1915 - William Berenberg, American physician (d. 2005)
- 1910 - Alfred Ayer, British philosopher (d. 1989)
- 1907 - Edwige Feuillère, French film actress (d. 1998)
- 1906 - Fredric Brown, American science fiction and mystery writer (d. 1972)
- 1899 - Akim Tamiroff, Russian actor (d. 1972)
- 1897 - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (d. 1945)
- 1891 - Fanny Brice, American singer (d. 1951)
- 1882 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (d. 1944)
- 1880 - Abram Ioffe, Soviet physicist (d. 1960)
- 1879 - Alva B. Adams, American politician (d. 1941)
- 1879 - Franz von Papen, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1969)
- 1877 - Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer (d. 1973)
- 1877 - Narcisa de Leon, Filipino film mogul (d. 1966)
- 1875 - Marie of Edinburgh, queen of Romania (d. 1938)
- 1866 - Antonio Luna, Filipino revolutionary general (d. 1899)
- 1861 - Andrei Ryabushkin, Russian painter (d. 1904)
- 1855 - Paul Bruchési, archbishop of Montreal (d. 1939)
- 1832 - Narcisa de Jesús Martillo, Ecuadorian saint (d. 1869)
- 1827 - Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist (d. 1907)
- 1822 - Mieczys?aw Halka Ledóchowski, Polish Catholic Cardinal (d. 1902)
- 1815 - Daniel Emmett, American composer (d. 1904)
- 1815 - ?udovít Štúr, Slovak politician, author of Slovak language (d. 1856)
- 1740 - James Boswell, Scottish biographer of Samuel Johnson (d. 1795)
- 1704 - John Byng, British admiral (d. 1757)
- 1690 - Martin Folkes, English antiquarian (d. 1754)
- 1682 - Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French historian (d. 1761)
- 1017 - Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1056)